Alien? Yeah, alien. I can’t possibly be the only one that was completely weirded out by the look of Steam’s controller. The first millisecond of a glance that I took at Steam’s controller made me go “what the f***?” But immediately after my initial reaction was, “Whoa, cool!” I mean this thing seriously looks cool. And why? Just from looking at it I knew it would be touch based. I mean how can you not? There’s no friggin buttons! It’s an alien controller! And it looks beautiful.

From the moment touch controls were invented for computers and mobile devices, I have wanted to game with that control. Or you know, something like in the movies where people use future tech by waving their hands around the air and pressing hologram buttons! I want to play my video games like that! The Steam controller looks like a big step towards it and I can’t wait to try it out.

So how does the Steam controller work? The duel trackpads work much like a touch screen, but are also clickable, making the entire pad a button. The rumble feature is going to be completely new, but I don’t understand most of what Valve explains about it. Something to do with magnets and things unknown to me. You techies can enjoy that on their official announcement. The controller can also function as speakers. What? Yeah, Valve is going nuts with their controller and I have no doubt that Sony and Microsoft will be looking to mimic them.

The touch screen in the middle also works as a single button. So that there are no mistakes with it, clicking it will select the functions you want to use it for, while gliding your fingertips over it can select different menu’s and functions to pick from. All actions on the middle touch-screen will also show up on an overlay on Steam and in-game so that you don’t have to stare at your controller while playing! Developers will have the option to implement the main touch-screen for use in their games of course. Trust me you’re not alone, I’m also brimming with excitement! Give me this now!!!

The Steam controller has a nice focus on ergonomic comfort, and sixteen buttons, half of which don’t require you to remove your thumb from the controller. I really love this touch control stuff. You can even change the settings of the controller to work for you if you are left-handed!

Valve has even made the controller hackable and will supply users with tools to work with. More details can be found at Steam of course!